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Friday, December 31, 2010

I just received my Hoax Figure Pack, and was very pleased to find it includes a sheet of bonus tokens. Including: John MacNeal’s Winter Pack (now just called a bonus character pack, also “Let’s Go Follow Me” has been replaced with “Moving Target”), The Glyph of Enoch (formerly the “Glyph of Dee”), The Curse of Ozo, the Weapons Cache (formerly the “Arsenal of Constantinople”), and two MP 40s, a trench gun and a Sten MkII crate tokens.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Amnizine Gas

The Amnizine 2011 gas in this grenade causes temporary amnesia and extreme paranoia.

Smoke Grenade – This item follows most rules for Smoke Grenades, except: That it effects the characters on the path and not the path itself.

Any character standing on the targeted path when the grenade detonates will be effected for three turns. While a character is effected by the Amnizine Gas they will be controlled by the opposing player.

When thrown place three objective tokens (or other convenient markers) on the character cards of each character on the targeted path. In each “refresh tokens” step: remove one of these tokens from each card. This way the effects will last the appropriate duration.

Ok, I hope that makes sense, I tried to uses as many of the original phases from the revised Smoke Grenade rules as possible.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

First for today is a bit of fiction about the creation of the Reich’s Undead-troops, the dread Untotetruppen. At the bottom is the draft of the rules and tokens for this Tannhauser custom based on the previously shown Oni Virus Zombies from AT 43.

CREATION OF THE UNTOTETRUPPEN…

It was in 1941 that Reichdoktor Hoss Harbinger had decided to pursue the work of Viktor Frankenstein. However, his initial search proved futile – it appeared that all of Frankenstein’s research had died with him in the 1790s. Still, fixated on the idea, the Reichdoktor organized an expedition to secretly scour the world for any remains of Frankenstein’s work. These men would travel from the burned ruins of a manor in Geneva to the frozen wastes of the Arctic Sea; all along finding scraps of information and rumors to lead them to the next clue.

Eventually, in 1944, they returned with enough information to point the doctors of the Eisendivision in the right direction, and established the Untotetruppen Project. Drawing on the works of Paracelsus, Albertus, and Agrippa, just as Frankenstein himself had done, they were able to make real progress. In the summer of 1945, they were able to reanimate a frog, and soon they would be close to doing the same with a fallen soldier.

Finally, in the fall of 1946 just outside the city of Dresden, the doctors and researchers set to work on the final phase of the Untotetruppen Project. They had overcome the power constraints that had held back the project, and discovered a suitable synthetic replacement for amniotic fluid. They began their work of reanimating a human by first executing a prisoner, hoping that a recently killed individual would prove easier for a first attempt. The lights dimmed as the influence machines whirred to life, and the transformers hummed as the capacitance built up in the storage unit. The sound of Union bombers could be heard overhead, and even as the nearby city was being reduced to dust, the doctors continued with their grim work. The body was placed in the reanimation chamber, which was filled with a viscous oxygen-bearing fluid. As the gauges indicated just the precise charge, the system was triggered, dumping the mass of energy into the chamber, beginning the chain reaction to restore life to the dead. There was a fury of light and sound, and then nothing, only the distant rumble of the bombs could be heard.

The chamber was carefully and slowly opened. The beast they had created slumped to the floor, and a gasp broke from its grotesque lips. A shout from one of the workers could be heard “Es ist am Leben!” The project was a success, and as the beast began to rise from the floor its head exploded in a bloody mist, the prisoner’s execution had once again been carried out. Word was sent to Harbinger of the project’s progress, and he instructed the researchers to begin work on the next phase of the project: reanimating a soldier from the battlefield so that he could once again serve the Reich in glorious battle. In the morning after the bombs had stopped falling, the scientists, doctors, and lab assistants packed all of the necessary equipment and evacuated Dresden. The project would soon find a new home in Hungry…

Hope you all enjoyed that, special thanks to Rhydderch for suggestions and some proofing.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

I’ve been working on rebasing all my AT 43 figures; I found that Michael’s craft stores sells 1 inch (25.4mm) wood circles, they’re only slightly smaller than the actual Tannhauser bases which are about 26-27mm. They are negligibly thicker (I can barely tell it). The ones I bought were made by Lara’s Crafts (item 10045) and cost $1.19 for a pack of seven (making them 17 cents each). I just painted them black with a Sharpie and glued the figs with Maxi-Cure brand, extra thick, plastic and hardwood cyanoacrylate.

And here’s the results…

AT 43 Oni Virus Zombie Detonator Unit Box rebased and ready for Tannhauser. Rule sets and character cards will follow later; these will be the Untotetruppen (undead troops).

Here are the Red Blok figs for my Olga Valecheve character and the Phantom Division squad.

I took the pictures quickly so they’re not great, but I hope they give you an idea how the bases look.

Edit Monday the 27th…

Here is another picture from a better angle, taken on the Tesla board, there are some original Tannhauser figures for comparison.

As always, a larger view is available by clicking on the picture.

Personally I like the new bases so much I’m tempted to rebase the Tannhauser original figures too. : ) … But I probably won’t.

Update Dec. 31st…

I just got back from the Hobby Lobby and picked up their store brand 1” birch circles, they are closer in size and thickness to the Tannhauser bases, and they come 12 per pack for $1.47.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Here is the final piece of the Phantom Division puzzle, the token sets. I’m hoping that some of you will take the opportunity to print all this out and do some play testing, so of the abilities are a little rough and some outside input would be helpful.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

I’ve been working on rule sheets for each of the new characters I’m making to create a complete Phantom Division Squad. The entire squad will be faction loyal Matriarchy so you will be able to mix these guys into other units. Now, the following rule sheets are 3rd Drafts and still subject to change, if anyone spots any mistakes please let me know by leaving a comment. I’m aware the grey on the special item boxes is a little too light, and I’ll fix that if I do another version of these. Also, I only have a good picture of Vlad, I used a blurry pic of the fig for Boris, but I didn’t worry about character pics for the the Troopers.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Thanks to Rhydderch from the FFG Tannhauser forums, I looked in to getting a scan of the At 43 character art for Sgt. Anastasiya Tymofiyeva from the Red Blok army book, now with that in hand along with just about every other piece of art produced for AT 43 I’ve complete the first draft of the character with tokens, stats, and bio. Doc Savage helped out on the text, and with the color on the rule sheet.

First the new character card in JPG format…

You’ll need to print this at 5.5 by 5.5 inches and mount it on some card board. I’ll be posing the back image at a later date.

Next the two page rule sheet also in JPG, I may post a PDF later.

As always click on the pic to get a full size version (remember they’re really big). These are formatted for 8.5 by 11 inches (full bleed).

Finally the token sheet, I’ll be posting this in PDF simply because it maintains the token size better. Click on the image below and it will take you to the PDF on Google Docs.

There is a chance the PDF may not look as good on the screen as it prints, as it is optimized for printing and not viewing.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

UPDATED…

After I’m finished with Sgt. Valecheve, my next project will be the Phantom Division, of all the Tannhauser Matriarchy characters Major Volkov is my favorite. Also I hate Voivodes, stupid little evil Faberge Eggs, that die if a Stoss stares at ‘em mean. So I’m turning my attention to the true pride of Mother Russia, the peasant conscripts that live long enough to join the proud ranks of the Phantom Division.

The figures from left to right:

Soldaty Trooper: converted from the AT 43 RPG Soldaty Attach. Box.

Boris Kruschev Hero: also from the AT 43 RPG Soldaty Attach. Box.

Major Gorgi Volkov: The Original Tannhauser Expansion Figure.

Captain Vlad Markov: from the AT 43 Captain Vrachov Hero Box.

Strelsky Trooper: also from the AT 43 RPG Soldaty Attach. Box.

These guys will have a much easier time wasting Reich demons and Union foot-soldiers. Between them there’s enough fire power to topple a small eastern European government.

… and in the back a tank, why? Because tanks are cool.

Below are the character sheets for the four AT 43 figs to make a complete Phantom Division Squad.

First Boris, the heavy weapons specialist, he’s not bright but you don’t need to be when you’re a human tank.

Next Captain Vladimir “Vlad” Markov, a former doctor conscripted in to the Matriarchy's armies.

Next the Strelsky trooper, he carries a wide variety of kit for every occasion.

Finally the Soldaty trooper, (note his stats are the same as the one above for time and balance, but his equipment will be different) a standard foot soldier.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I recently picked up some AT 43 figs really cheap. So I’ll be doing several conversions for Tannhauser over the coming weeks. Also, I’m collaborating with Doc Savage on a couple of characters for his BPRD faction. So, it looks like I’ll have something to do this winter as my exile as a stay at home dad continues.

And here my first character conversion, based on the Sgt. Anastasiya Tymofiyeva Hero Box for AT 43.

Olga Valecheve, an alcoholic tank commander, who fights as hard as she drinks.

“When you drive tank all traffic law is negotiable.” Olga- to a Moscow traffic cop, after she backed over a squad car with a KV-II she “borrowed”.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Well happy holidays folks, not much going on here, I’ve got writers block and sadly there will be no holiday token this Thanksgiving. Sorry. I’ve got Daedalus on preorder and as soon as it arrives I hope that it will be a colonic for my mind and clear this pesky block.

I’m still hoping for some feedback on the tile map beta, and my scenarios; that would go a long way in helping to create new material.

Ps Netflix is really cool. We just got our internet installed at the new house so updates will come more regularly after I am one again inspired.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The current Map Pack consists of 22 tiles and a backing graphic. The tiles are not extremely specific, and therefore none are mutually exclusive. So, if you so desire you may use any number of the tiles repeatedly. Although, if you use more than three of the same tile the map might feel a little repetitive.

Each page of the PDF contains one tile and a brief description of the depicted room. The file is a total of 11.4 MB.

The image below is of a rough prototype in play-testing.

This prototype only includes 16 of the tiles from the pack.

It is recommended that these be printed on cardstock and glued to some picture backer board. Each tile is to be 8X8 inches when cut out. There is an included back graphic (optional) that allows you to make your tiles with matching backs, for “random draw” style play. But you could also make the tiles double sided if you wished. Be sure not to scale the graphics in any way when printing, if you use fit to page or a similar function, they will print too small.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Ok, the Tile Project is coming along, albeit very slowly. I have about 17 rooms rendered with dynamic lighting, at 500x500, about 14 of those are rescaled to 8x8 inches at 200dpi, which does blur them some. Of those 14 all have been “pathed” and had map objects added. I think I’ll have the first PDF Beta version up in a week or two depending on how much time I devote to this project.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I’ve begun work on a new tile set Tannhauser map, it’s loosely based on the Avalon Hill, Betrayal at the House on the Hill tiles I had previously adapted to Tannhauser. I have 14 rooms and some hall pieces done (There’s a list below). If anyone has any room suggestion please leave a comment.

Here’s a sample room. Again created with a combo of SketchUp and Photoshop. The full set will be posted later.

I personally like the random draw exploration play mechanic that a tile map allows for, but you can also just pre-build a unique bunker/dungeon for a scenario. The down side is that each room/hall usually only has one path, maybe two.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

I was going for an Egyptian theme this time and while the map seems playable; it’s still a little light on the detail. To achieve the levels of detail found on a genuine Tannhauser map I would need a large library of 3D objects, and a way more powerful PC.

But without further adieu here it is…

I went in a slightly different direction when it came to map objects. This map contains 10 action circles and no objectives it also features 2 sniper posts, 1 forbidden, 2 one ways, and 2 entry points.

As for the texturing and shading, the map is meant to look as if it is in the bright Egyptian sun, with dark harsh shadows.

Here’s a look at the 3D version, this is how it looks before the 2D render.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Here we go, the largest post of custom scenarios I’ve ever made. This includes updates of previous scenarios and no less than four previously unreleased scenarios. Now, I will admit these are pretty Reich vs. Union heavy, but the Revised Rules included plenty of Matriarchy centric scenarios. So, without further delay lets get started…

Just Click the pictures and they’ll take you to Google Docs, for the PDFs, Most scenarios include a sheet of print and make tokens.

First, Operation: Cage the Devil, a Reich vs. Union affair requiring the Union to capture and escape with a live Stosstruppen.

Next, is Operation: Mirror Mirror, a title reference to the classic Star Trek episode. This scenario pits the Matriarchy against invaders from an alternate dimension. Think Major Volkov with a goatee.

Now, we come to Operation: Overkill, a Revised Rules remake of an older scenario from 2008, pitting the Union against a force of Demonic entities, and Marquis Heizinger is their only salvation.

Now comes the Three Player Variant of Operation: Overkill, this psodo-what-if version of Overkill, Sees the Reich and Union trying to defeat the Baroness in different ways. You’ll need all the original Operation: Overkill files to play this one.

Next, we have Operation: Recovery, a very FFG style scenario, revolving around a Reich takeover of a Union Air Base, and the new XB-17 bomber.

Finally, we come to Operation: Book Ends, Revised Rules Edition, now I know I just posted this one, but I’ve made a few changes so that it matches graphically with my other scenarios.

Well there you have it, six mostly new Tannhauser scenarios, play and enjoy, and please report back if you have any suggestions or questions.